Active Infrared Sensor for Aerial Vehicle Collision Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Unmanned aerial vehicles, such as quadcopters, are susceptible to damage and potential loss due to collisions with objects in their environment, particularly because their lightweight propeller blades are prone to damage and can result in unrecoverable crashes, highlighting the need for an effective collision avoidance system.
Innovation Solution
An active infrared sensor system is integrated into the aerial vehicle that projects an infrared pattern onto objects, using cameras to detect both infrared and visible light images, allowing for robust object detection and generating a map to avoid collisions, with the capability to override user controls if a collision is imminent.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an aerial vehicle operates without a collision avoidance system, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability deteriorates due to susceptibility to collision damage
Solution Approach 1:
The collision avoidance system is divided into separate functional modules: infrared emitter for active illumination, cameras for detection, processors for analysis, and control systems for response. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while maintaining overall system reliability without excessive complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection and mapping of the environment using infrared and visible light cameras before collisions occur. By continuously scanning and creating a map of obstacles in advance, the system can identify potential collision risks and take preventive action, improving reliability through proactive rather than reactive collision avoidance
2Measurement precision
If an active infrared sensor system is integrated for object detection, then the measurement precision of object detection is improved, but the use of energy increases due to infrared emission and camera operation
Solution Approach 1:
The infrared emitter and cameras operate in periodic scanning cycles rather than continuous operation. The system emits infrared patterns and captures images at specific intervals, updating the environmental map only when necessary. This periodic operation maintains high detection precision while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous monitoring
Solution Approach 2:
The camera system is designed to detect both infrared and visible light simultaneously, allowing a single device to perform multiple detection functions. This multi-functionality improves object detection accuracy across various lighting conditions while reducing the total number of separate sensors needed, thereby lowering overall energy consumption
3Reliability
If the system overrides user controls to avoid collisions, then the reliability is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to loss of manual control
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors the environment and provides feedback to both the control system and the user. When obstacles are detected, the system can override controls to avoid collisions while simultaneously notifying the user of the situation. This feedback mechanism maintains reliability by ensuring collision avoidance while preserving ease of operation through user awareness and ability to resume manual control after the emergency situation is resolved
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively detects objects in various lighting conditions, including low light or bright environments, and can autonomously navigate to avoid collisions, enhancing the safety and reliability of aerial vehicle operations.
Implementation Method 1
An active infrared sensor system is integrated into the aerial vehicle that projects an infrared pattern onto objects
Implementation Method 2
using cameras to detect both infrared and visible light images
Data Source
AI summary
An object detection system and method detect objects by projecting an infrared (IR) pattern from an IR emitter and capturing images with respective cameras that each includes an IR channel (e.g., a near IR channel) and one or more visible channels (e.g., red, green, and blue). The object detection system may detect, in the IR channels of the captured images, illumination features (e.g., points, lines, or shapes of IR illumination) from the IR pattern and may also detect objects in the visible channels of the images. The object detection sensor may estimate locations for the objects based on detected illumination features incident upon each object. The object detection system may be part of an aerial vehicle and may be used for autonomous or semi-autonomous flight planning.